Life as a hunter
Food Chains & Food Webs
African Lion Microsatellite Data
Lulu the Lioness
100
Name 3 benefits there are for lions to HUNT in a group
Hunting bigger prey provides more energy, protecting your prey from other predators, less likely to get hurt on a hunt
100
Create a simple food chain using the sun and these organisms:
- Impala (deer)
- Common Finger Grass
- Cheetah
Sun -----> Common Finger Grass -----> Impala ------> Cheetah
100
Which lion population is more diverse: Cameroon or Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe
100
Please write/draw a heterozygous, homozygous dominant and homozygous recessive genotypes for brown eyes (Dominant) and blue eyes (Recessive) using the letters B and b for the alleles.
BB: brown eyes - homozygous dominant
Bb: brown eyes - heterozygous
bb: blue eyes - homozygous recessive
200
Name 3 benefits there are for lions to LIVE in a group
Help with hunting, protection, and communal cub raising, etc.
200
Looking at the Food Web below, is the Great plated lizard a herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore?
Carnivore
200
Why is genetic diversity important?
Genetic diversity is important because it increases the chances of survival of a given species that is exposed to varying harsh environmental conditions.
200
Give 3 examples of how Lulu was related to cubs
She was the mother to one
She was sisters to lioness 628
She would be the aunt to lioness 628's cubs
She shares some similar alleles with all 5 cubs
300
Larger lions have 15,000 kcal on average to expend per day and need to gain more than that to survive. If lions can only hunt 1–3 times per day, and must consume 13,500 kcals/day to survive, explain which hunting STRATEGY and which PREY provide the optimal energy benefit.
Hunting in groups would be the best feeding strategy. Because the lion hunts 1-3 times per day, hunting in a group would allow the lions to acquire a larger prey and expend less energy.
300
Looking at this food web, what animal is consumed the most by predators?
Scrub Hare (rabbit)
300
Several lions from the Umfolozi pride migrated and joined the Fannie Roberts pride. Over time, the newly migrated Umfolozi lions mated with existing Fannie Roberts lions. What specific changes would you expect in the microsatellite data of Botswana as a result of this mating?
Since Umfolozi lions are almost all entirely yellow, you would expect more yellow color to appear in the Fannie Roberts population over time if Umfolozi lions started mating with individuals from Fannie Roberts. The yellow color would increase in frequency among individuals in the Fannie Roberts pride.
300
How does it help the lion population for females to raise any cub to which they are related?
By raising cubs that they are related to, the females get to pass on some of their alleles (the ones they share with the cubs), which is beneficial since the females get to pass on some of their genetics if the cubs survive to adulthood and reproduces with another lion.
400
A group of 5 female lions are going out to hunt. They each have less than 15,000 kcal of energy that they can spend to hunt. They are hunting a baby elephant. It costs 72,000 kcal of energy to hunt a baby elephant. And the energy that the baby elephant provides is 241,000 kcal of energy. The baby elephant also runs at a top speed of 10 mph.
What would the NET GAIN be for the lions for the amount of energy it costs to hunt the baby elephant and the amount of energy they get back in return?
5 Lions have a total of >75,000 kcal of energy available to hunt.
Costs 72,000 to hunt baby elephant
Baby elephant provides 241,000 kcal of energy
NET GAIN: 241,000 - 72,000 = 169,000 kcal of energy
400
Looking at this food web, what organism(s) consumes more types of plant species than any other organism?
It's a tie between the Impala (deer) and the Grasshopper. Both consume 3 different types of plant species.
400
Looking at these 3 DNA strands of Cytochrome B from the lions living in these 3 different populations, which 2 populations are more closely related?
Umfolozi and Kalahari
400
Looking at this first chart of all the male, female and lion cubs genotypes for these 4 genes; complete the second chart below to determine who the mother and father of cub 712 is and what alleles each of the parents gave for every trait.
500
Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique once had large populations of zebras. In 1977, a civil war broke out within the country and lasted for 15 years. Zebra populations were wiped out completely due to fighting. Predict how this would impact the size of lion prides in Gorongosa National Park.
Less zebras would lead to less lions over time since there would be less prey species available. Lion prides would likely decrease in size. This would increase competition between lion prides for wildebeest, warthogs, and other prey species.
500
Describe what would happen to 2 other species in this food web if the Termite went extinct.
The Great plated lizard population would decrease.
The Red oat grass would increase.
500
As we studied Lulu and her cubs, we read about the migration of lions between multiple prides (Goals, Rietfontein, and Homob). How does the microsatellite data provide further evidence that lions migrate between populations? Compare TWO prides and cite specific evidence in your answer.
*ANSWERS MAY VARY*
Microsatellite data gives evidence that lions migrate between populations due to the shared colors that can be seen between lion prides that live somewhat close geographically. For example, Botswana and Zimbabwe both share blue colors in the individuals and also live fairly close to each other. This shows that these prides likely share genetic similarities due to individuals migrating and mating between the populations. Botswana also has many individuals that have yellow color, showing that they likely share alleles with the Umfolozi prides; this gives evidence that some individuals may have migrated or mated between these two prides.
500
Looking at cub 712: Why was it critical for you to use these four genes instead of just one? Please PROVIDE SPECIFIC EVIDENCE FROM THE DATA PROVIDED.
You need all four genes since many of the individuals share the same alleles.
For example, males 633, 695, 668, and 657 all have C for gene FCA26. Multiple genes are needed to eliminate possible parents.